Manual Window Treatment Having a Floating Chain Tensioner

ABSTRACT

A manual drive assembly for a manually-operated window treatment based on a drive chain formed as a loop, may incorporate one or more intermediate tensioners disposed between two ends of the loop. The loop may be formed between a manual clutch mechanism coupled to the window treatment and an end tensioner. The one or more intermediate tensioners may serve to limit slack in the loop such that sides of the loop cannot be pulled to create a large loop, for example, having a gap of four inches or greater, between the hanging sides of the cord.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/702,536, filed Jul. 24, 2018, the entire disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

A window treatment may be mounted in front of one or more windows, forexample, to prevent sunlight from entering a space and/or to provideprivacy. Window treatments may include, for example, but are not limitedto, roller shades, roman shades, venetian blinds, or draperies. A rollershade typically includes a flexible shade fabric wound onto an elongatedroller tube. Such a roller shade may include a weighted hembar locatedat a lower end of the shade fabric. The hembar may cause the shadefabric to hang in front of one or more windows that the roller shade ismounted in front of.

A typical window treatment may be manually-operated or motor-operated.In the case of a manually-operated window treatment, the rotation of theroller tube may be provided by an input wheel that receives an inputchain. The input wheel converts a pulling force applied to the inputchain into a rotational force. A typical input chain may be a ball orbeaded chain loop. A non-limiting example of a manual roller shadehaving a beaded chain is described in greater detail in U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2008/0121353, published May 29, 2008,entitled MANUAL ROLLER SHADE HAVING CLUTCH MECHANISM, CHAIN GUIDE ANDUNIVERSAL MOUNTING, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference. A holding device may be installed at thebottom of the ball chain loop such that the input chain may be tensionedand may not be free hanging. This holding device may be provided becauseit may be desirable that the input chain cannot be pulled to create alarge loop, for example, having a gap of four inches or greater, betweenthe hanging sides of the cord.

One example of a manual roller shade that has a beaded chain that is notformed in a loop is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2012/0090795, published Apr. 19, 2012, entitled MANUAL ROLLER SHADESYSTEM, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference. However, there is still a desire to have a manual shade witha beaded chain that is exposed and can be grabbed by the user to movethe shade fabric, while still maintaining a relatively small loop whenthe chain is pulled (e.g., less than four inches).

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A drive assembly for use with a manually-operated window treatment,according to aspects of the present disclosure, may include a drivechain, e.g., but not limited to, a ball chain, arranged in the form of aloop between a manual clutch mechanism coupled to the window treatmentand an end tensioner. The drive assembly may include one or moreintermediate tensioners disposed on the drive-chain loop between themanual clutch mechanism and the end tensioner. The one or moreintermediate tensioners may provide a mechanism by which to preventslack in the loop, for example, such that sides of the loop cannot bepulled to create a large loop, for example, having a gap of four inchesor greater, between the hanging sides of the cord.

Various aspects of the present disclosure may be directed to varioustypes of mechanisms for the one or more intermediate tensioners.According to such aspects of the present disclosure, an intermediatetensioner may include at least one sprocket, which may engage both sidesof the drive chain loop, and may be contained within a housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a window treatmentsystem.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the window treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of an example of a driveassembly of a window treatment system.

FIGS. 4-6 show side cross-sectional views of other examples of driveassemblies of a window treatment system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ASPECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and FIG. 2 is a front view of an examplemanual window treatment 100 (e.g., a manually-operated roller shade).The example window treatment 100 may include a roller tube 110, acovering material 112 (e.g., a flexible shade fabric), and one or morebrackets 114. The covering material 112 may be windingly received by theroller tube 110. The roller tube 110 may be elongated from a first end116 to a second end 118 (FIG. 2). The brackets 114 may be located atopposite ends of the manual roller shade 100 for supporting the manualwindow treatment 100 from a fixed support surface such as a wall orceiling of a structure, for example.

The manual window treatment 100 may comprise a drive assembly 120 (e.g.,a drive mechanism), which may include a manual clutch mechanism 121 thatmay be located at the first end 116 of the roller tube 110. The manualclutch mechanism 121 may be bi-directional to provide for raising andlowering of the covering material 112 (e.g., between a fully-openposition and a fully-closed position). The manual clutch mechanism 121may be configured to rotatably drive the roller tube 110. The manualclutch mechanism 121 may be configured to prevent back-driving of theroller tube 110 that could otherwise occur, for example, if a pullingforce was applied to a lower end of the covering material 112 supportedby the roller tube 110. The manual window treatment 100 may include anidler assembly 122 (FIG. 2) that may be located adjacent to the secondend 118 of the roller tube 110 opposite the manual clutch mechanism 121.The idler assembly 122 may provide rotatable support for the roller tube110 at the second end 118 of the roller tube 110.

The drive assembly of the manual window treatment 100 may also comprisea drive chain 124 (e.g., a beaded or ball chain). The drive chain 124may be received by the manual clutch mechanism 121 in the roller tube100, such that oppositely-located (e.g., front and rear) portions of thedrive chain 124 hangs from the manual clutch mechanism 121. For example,the drive chain 124 may be anchored by an end tensioner 126 (e.g., anend chain tensioner), which may be attached to a structure (e.g., awall, a window sill, and/or a surface adjacent to the window) near thebottom end of the shade fabric. The drive chain 124 may form a loop,e.g., a continuous loop. The loop of the drive chain 124 may have afirst end at the manual clutch mechanism 121 and a second end at the endtensioner 126. The loop of the drive chain 124 may comprise two sidesdefined between the first and second ends of the loop (e.g., adjacentfront and rear portions of the drive chain 124). The manual clutchmechanism 121 may be configured to rotate the roller tube 110 inresponse to movements of the drive chain 124. For example, the drivechain 124 may be configured to provide for a sufficient number ofrotations of the roller tube 110 for raising or lowering the coveringmaterial 112 (e.g., from the fully-closed position to the fully-openposition or vice versa) when a pulling force is applied to a section ofthe front or rear portion of the drive chain 124.

The drive assembly of the manual window treatment 100 may also comprisean intermediate tensioner 128 (e.g., a floating chain tensioner)disposed between the manual clutch mechanism 121 and the end tensioner126. The intermediate tensioner 128 may be configured to float betweenthe manual clutch mechanism 121 and the end tensioner 126, for example,around a midpoint of the drive chain 124 between the manual clutchmechanism 121 and the end tensioner 126. The intermediate tensioner 128may be configured to prevent the drive chain 124 from being pulled toform too large of a loop as will be described in greater detail belowwith reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a simplified left-side cross-sectional view of an example ofthe manual window treatment 100 taken through the line shown in FIG. 2(e.g., through the center of the drive chain 124). Note that in FIG. 3,the drive chain 124 is shown enlarged and having a shorter length forillustrative purposes. The manual clutch mechanism 121 may comprise adrive sprocket 130 having bead notches 132 in which beads 125 of thedrive chain 124 may be received, such that movements of the drive chainrotate the drive sprocket. The drive sprocket 130 may comprise a drivepin 134 coupled to the roller shade 110 to provide for rotation of theroller tube in response to movements of the drive chain 124. Themechanical construction of an example drive assembly is described ingreater detail in previously-referenced U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2008/0121353. The end tensioner 126 may provide astationary, curved surface 142, which may, for example, be formed as anouter circumference of a circular or partially circular (e.g., at leastsemi-circular) member 140.

The intermediate tensioner 128 may comprise an inner sprocket 150 havingbead notches 152 for receiving the beads 125 of adjacent front and rearportions of the drive chain 124. The inner sprocket 150 may rotatearound an inner pin 154 as the drive chain 124 is moved. Theintermediate tensioner 128 may also comprise clamps 156 disposed alongand/or in parallel with vertical sides of the intermediate tensioner128, on both sides of inner sprocket 150, in order to hold the adjacentfront and rear portions of the drive chain 124 against the innersprocket 150. The clamps 156 may comprise inner surfaces 158 along whichthe beads 125 of the drive chain 124 may slide as the beads are receivedin the bead notches 152 of the inner sprocket 150 while the innersprocket rotates. The inner sprocket 150 and the clamps 156 may behoused in a housing 159 of the intermediate tensioner 128. The inner pin154 around which the inner sprocket 150 rotates may be connected to thehousing 159 and/or an arm or other structure (not shown) that may extendbetween the clamps 156.

The housing 159 may be of a two-piece design, a non-limiting example ofwhich is shown in FIG. 3. The housing 159 may have first and secondpieces 159 a and 159 b. The inner sprocket 150, the clamps 156, theinner pin 154, and/or other parts that may be discussed below may bedisposed within the housing 159, and one or both of the first and secondpieces 159 a, 159 b of housing 159 may have holes, slots, grommets,etc., that may permit the two sides of the loop of drive chain 124(e.g., the adjacent front and rear portions of the drive chain 124) topass through the intermediate tensioner 128 and engage with themechanism(s) within the housing 159. The first and second pieces 159 a,159 b may be attached to one another by means of, for example, but notlimited to, a snap-fit mechanism, glue, one or more screws, etc., orcombinations thereof.

The intermediate tensioner 128 may operate to limit the drive chain 124to forming a loop characterized by a distance D between front and rearportions of the drive chain 124 when one side of the drive chain ispulled with a force F (e.g., from forming a loop bigger than a loopcharacterized by than the distance D between front and rear portions ofthe drive chain 124). For example, when the drive chain 124 has a lengthof approximately seven feet between the manual clutch mechanism 121 andthe end tensioner 126, where the intermediate tensioner 128 is locatedat the midpoint of the drive chain 124 between the manual clutchmechanism 121 and the end tensioner 126, the intermediate tensioner 128may limit the drive chain 124 to forming a loop characterized by adistance of 3.25 inches between front and rear portions of the drivechain 124 when one side of the drive chain is pulled with a force of 5pounds. Without the intermediate tensioner 128 installed, the drivechain 124 may form a loop characterized by a distance of 4.5 inches whenone side of the drive chain is pulled with a force of 5 pounds.

FIG. 4 is a simplified left-side cross-sectional view of an example of adrive assembly 120 a of a manual window treatment (e.g., the manualwindow treatment 100) taken along the line shown in FIG. 2. The driveassembly 120 a shown in FIG. 4 is similar to the drive assembly 120 ofthe manual window treatment 100 shown in FIG. 3, except for thestructure of the end tensioner 126. The drive assembly 120 a shown inFIG. 4 may comprise an end tensioner 126 a (e.g., which may replace theend tensioner 126 of the drive assembly 120 of the manual windowtreatment 100 shown in FIG. 3). The sprocket 144 of the end tensioner126 a may comprise a sprocket 144 that may have bead notches 146 forreceiving the beads 125 of the drive chain 124 and may rotate around apin 148 as the drive chain 124 is moved.

FIG. 5 is a simplified left-side cross-sectional view of another exampleof a drive assembly 120 b of a manual window treatment (e.g., the manualwindow treatment 100) taken along the line shown in FIG. 2. The driveassembly 120 b shown in FIG. 5 is similar to the drive assembly 120 ofthe manual window treatment 100 shown in FIG. 3, except for the form ofthe intermediate tensioner 128. The drive assembly 120 b shown in FIG. 5may comprise an intermediate tensioner 128 b (e.g., which may replacethe intermediate tensioner 128 of the drive assembly 120 of the manualwindow treatment 100 shown in FIG. 3). The intermediate tensioner 128 bmay contain multiple inner sprockets 160 a, 160 b. For example, theintermediate tensioner 128 b may comprise two inner sprockets 160 a, 160b as shown in FIG. 5, but may also comprise more than two such innersprockets. The inner sprockets 160 a, 106 b may have respective beadsockets 162 a, 162 b for receiving the beads 125 of the adjacent frontand rear portions of the drive chain 124. The inner sprockets 160 a, 160b may rotate about respective inner pins 164 a, 164 b as the drive chain124 is moved.

Pairs of clamps 166 a, 166 b may be provided (e.g., similar to clamps156) on both sides of respective inner sprockets 160 a, 160 b. Theclamps 166 a, 166 b may comprise respective inner surfaces 168 a, 168 b,along which the beads 125 of the drive chain 124 may slide as the beadsare received in the bead sockets 162 a, 162 b of the inner sprockets 160a, 160 b while the inner sprockets 160 a, 160 b rotate. The innersprockets 160 a, 160 b may be housed in a housing 169, and the innerpins 164 a, 164 b about which the inner sprockets 160 a, 160 b rotatemay be connected to the housing 169 and/or to arms or other structuresthat may extend between the pairs of clamps 166 a, 166 b. In addition,the multiple inner sprockets 160 a, 160 b, along with their inner pins164 a, 164 b and pairs of clamps 166 a, 166 b may be separated andhoused in separate housings disposed along the drive chain 124.

FIG. 6 is a simplified left-side cross-sectional view of another exampleof a drive assembly 120 c of a manual window treatment (e.g., the manualwindow treatment 100) taken along the line shown in FIG. 2. The driveassembly 120 c shown in FIG. 6 is similar to the drive assembly 120 ofthe manual window treatment 100 shown in FIG. 3 except for the form ofthe intermediate tensioner 128. The drive assembly 120 c shown in FIG. 6may comprise an intermediate tensioner 128 c (e.g., which may replacethe intermediate tensioner 128 of the drive assembly 120 of the manualwindow treatment 100 shown in FIG. 3). The intermediate tensioner 128 cof FIG. 6 may comprise an inner sprocket 170, having bead sockets 172for receiving the beads 125 of the drive chain 124. The inner sprocket170 may rotate about a pin 174. In contrast to the previous examples,the intermediate tensioner 128 c may not include clamps, but instead mayinclude outer sprockets 180 a, 180 b, 180 c, 180 d (e.g., satellitesprockets). A first pair of the outer sprockets 180 a, 180 b may engagethe front portion of the drive chain 124 and maintain engagement of thefront portion of the drive chain 124 with the inner sprocket 170. Asecond pair of the outer sprockets 180 c, 180 d may engage the rearportion of the drive chain 124 and maintain engagement of the rearportion of the drive chain 124 with the inner sprocket 170.

Using the outer sprocket 180 c as an illustrative but non-limitingexample, a respective outer sprocket 180 c may have bead sockets 182 forreceiving the beads 125 of the drive chain 124, and may rotate about apin 184. The inner socket 170 and outer sprockets 180 a, 180 b, 180 c,180 d may be contained within a housing 179. The inner pin 174 aboutwhich the inner sprocket 170 rotates may be connected to the housing 179and/or to arms, a support frame, or other structures that may containedwithin housing 179 or be attached to or part of housing 179. Similarly,the pins 184 about which the outer sprockets 180 a, 180 b, 180 c, 180 drotate may be similarly disposed. The pins 184 and/or the inner pin 174may be disposed on a common structure or two or more differentstructures (e.g., but not limited to, a case in which the inner pin 174is attached to the housing 179, while the pins 184 are part of orattached to a frame within or attached to the housing 179).

In the example of FIG. 6, as a force is applied to the drive chain 124,the drive chain 124 may be guided along and around the sprocket 130 ofthe manual clutch mechanism 121 and along and around the curved surface142 of the end tensioner 126 or the sprocket 144 of the end tensioner126. As part of this, the beads 125 of the drive chain 124 may be guidedinto and out of the intermediate tensioner 128 c. Within theintermediate tensioner 128 c, the beads 125 of the drive chain 124 mayengage with the inner sprocket 170 and the outer sprockets 180 a, 180 b,180 c, 180 d of intermediate tensioner 128 c. As such, the outersprockets 180 a, 180 b, 180 c, 180 d may serve to guide the drive chain124 such that the beads 125 are maintained in engagement with the innersprocket 170 as the drive chain 124 is in motion.

It is further contemplated that the housing 179 may contain more thanone inner sprocket 170 and more than one set of outer sprockets 180 a,180 b, 180 c, 180 d. Furthermore, it is also contemplated that more thanone intermediate tensioner 128 c may be provided along drive chain 124.It is yet further contemplated that combinations of the features foundin the intermediate tensioners 128, 128 b, 128 c may be used in a singlechain drive assembly and that the variations of the end tensioner 126,126 a of FIGS. 3 and 4 may be used in combination with any intermediatetensioner 128, 128 b, 128 c or combinations and variations thereof.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, one or morecomponents may be attached to a stationary structure, such as, but notlimited to, a wall, window frame, or window sill. In particular,intermediate tensioners 128, 128 b, 128 c and/or end tensioners 126, 126a may be fixed to one or more such stationary structures, using, forexample, but not limited to, glue, nails, screws, tape, staples, tacks,brackets, etc.

According to some aspects of the present disclosure, the drive chain 124may not limited to being a ball chain. In one further example, the drivechain may contain links (not shown), rather than beads 125. In thisexample, an intermediate tensioner may comprise a sprocket (not shown)having pins designed to engage the links of the drive chain as the drivechain is drawn through the window treatment drive assembly.

Finally, it is contemplated that, while the drive assemblies 120, 120 a,120 b, 120 c described above are described in the context of a rollershade, the drive assemblies may also be used with other types of manualwindow treatments, such as, but not limited to, cellular shades,draperies, Roman shades, venetian blinds, vertical blinds (e.g., therotation that rolls the roller shade up or down may be translated intohorizontal forces, e.g., using an appropriate transmission mechanism, asmay be known in the art, to open and close vertical blinds, draperies,or the like), etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drive assembly configured for use with amanually-operated window treatment, the drive assembly including: amanual clutch mechanism coupled to the window treatment; a drive chain,configured as a loop, and coupled to the manual clutch mechanism at afirst end of the loop and adapted to apply force to the manual clutchmechanism; an end tensioner coupled to a second end of the loop; and atleast one intermediate tensioner disposed between the manual clutchmechanism and the end tensioner and configured to substantially maintainlimited separation between two sides of the loop between the first andsecond ends of the loop.
 2. The drive assembly of claim 1, wherein theat least one intermediate tensioner comprises at least one sprocket. 3.The drive assembly of claim 2, wherein a first sprocket of the at leastone sprocket is configured to engage the two sides of the loop and torotate when a force is applied to the drive chain.
 4. The drive assemblyof claim 3, wherein the at least one intermediate tensioner furthercomprises at least two clamps associated with the first sprocket andconfigured to maintain engagement of the two sides of the loop withrespective sides of the first sprocket.
 5. The drive assembly of claim2, wherein the at least one intermediate tensioner comprises a housing,and the at least one sprocket comprises at least two sprockets withinthe housing and configured to engage the two sides of the loop and torotate when a force is applied to the drive chain.
 6. The drive assemblyof claim 2, wherein the at least one sprocket comprises at least fivesprockets, including a first sprocket configured to engage the two sidesof the loop and at least first and second pairs of sprocketsrespectively configured to engage different sides of the two sides ofthe loop and to maintain engagement of the two sides of the loop withthe central sprocket.
 7. The drive assembly of claim 1, wherein the atleast one intermediate tensioner comprises at least two intermediatetensioners, wherein a respective one of the at least two intermediatetensioners comprises a respective housing containing at least onerespective sprocket.
 8. The drive assembly of claim 1, wherein the atleast one intermediate tensioner is affixed to a stationary structure.9. The drive assembly of claim 1, wherein the end tensioner includes asprocket configured to engage the drive chain.
 10. A manually-operatedwindow treatment comprising: a roller tube that is supported at opposedends thereof; a drive assembly that is at least partially received inthe roller tube; and a covering material that is attached to the rollertube, the covering material operable between a raised position and alowered position via rotation of the roller tube by drive assembly;wherein the drive assembly comprises: a manual clutch mechanism coupledto the window treatment; a drive chain, configured as a loop, andcoupled to the manual clutch mechanism at a first end of the loop andadapted to apply force to the manual clutch mechanism; an end tensionercoupled to a second end of the loop; and at least one intermediatetensioner disposed between the manual clutch mechanism and the endtensioner and configured to substantially maintain limited separationbetween two sides of the loop between the first and second ends of theloop.
 11. The manually-operated window treatment of claim 10, whereinthe at least one intermediate tensioner comprises at least one sprocket.12. The manually-operated window treatment of claim 11, wherein a firstsprocket of the at least one sprocket is configured to engage the twosides of the loop and to rotate when a force is applied to the drivechain.
 13. The manually-operated window treatment of claim 12, whereinthe at least one intermediate tensioner further comprises at least twoclamps associated with the first sprocket and configured to maintainengagement of the two sides of the loop with respective sides of thefirst sprocket.
 14. The manually-operated window treatment of claim 11,wherein the at least one intermediate tensioner comprises a housing, andthe at least one sprocket comprises at least two sprockets within thehousing and configured to engage the two sides of the loop and to rotatewhen a force is applied to the drive chain.
 15. The manually-operatedwindow treatment of claim 11, wherein the at least one sprocketcomprises at least five sprockets, including a first sprocket configuredto engage the two sides of the loop and at least first and second pairsof sprockets respectively configured to engage different sides of thetwo sides of the loop and to maintain engagement of the two sides of theloop with the central sprocket.
 16. An intermediate tensioner for adrive assembly configured for use with a manually-operated windowtreatment, the drive assembly having a drive chain configured as a loop,the intermediate tensioner comprising: at least one sprocket isconfigured to engage two sides of the loop of the drive chain and torotate when a force is applied to the drive chain; and at least twoclamps located adjacent to the at least one sprocket and configured tomaintain engagement of the two sides of the loop of the drive chain withrespective sides of the at least one sprocket; wherein the intermediatetensioner is configured to substantially maintain limited separationbetween two sides of the loop between the first and second ends of theloop of the drive chain.
 17. The intermediate tensioner of claim 16,further comprising: a housing for housing the at least one sprocket andthe at least two clamps.
 18. The intermediate tensioner of claim 17,wherein the at least one sprocket comprises a single sprocket locatedwithin the housing, and configured to engage the two sides of the loopof the drive chain and to rotate when a force is applied to the drivechain.
 19. The intermediate tensioner of claim 17, wherein the at leastone sprocket comprises at least two sprockets located within thehousing, and configured to engage the two sides of the loop of the drivechain and to rotate when a force is applied to the drive chain.
 20. Amethod of providing a drive assembly for a manually-operated windowtreatment, the method including: providing a drive chain, configured asa loop, between a manual clutch mechanism and an end tensioner, the loophaving first and second ends at the manual clutch mechanism and at theend tensioner, respectively, and having two sides defined between firstand second ends of the loop; providing at least one intermediatetensioner, disposed between the manual clutch mechanism and the endtensioner; and passing the two sides of the loop through the at leastone intermediate tensioner such that the two sides of the loop areengaged with a mechanism of the at least one intermediate tensioner. 21.The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one intermediate tensionerincludes at least one two-piece housing, and wherein the passing the twosides of the loop through the at least one tensioner comprises: engagingthe two sides of the loop with respective sides of the mechanism of theat least one intermediate tensioner contained in at least one piece of arespective two-piece housing; and connecting together the two pieces ofthe respective two-piece housing, to thereby enclose the mechanism ofthe at least one intermediate tensioner in engagement with the two sidesof the loop of the drive chain.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein themechanism of the at least one intermediate tensioner comprises at leastone sprocket configured to engage the two sides of the loop of the drivechain and to rotate when a force is applied to the drive chain, andwherein passing the two sides of the loop through the at least onetensioner further comprises: providing at least two clamps locatedadjacent to the at least one sprocket; and maintaining, by the at leasttwo clamps, engagement of the two sides of the loop of the drive chainwith respective sides of the at least one sprocket.